Chapter 5: Jails and Houses of Correction

Origins of the Jail

Medieval England

  • Origin in initially held suspects for trial but gradually served the dual purposes of detention and punishment

  • The English jail concept was brought to British colonies in North America

  • Colonial jails consisted of small rooms that housed up to 30 prisoners (stocks, Pillory, and whipping posts near by)

  • Pennsylvania jails (1773)

    • Walnut Street Jail

    • Model for other stakes

    • Required hard work and discipline for reform

America

  • Beginning of the 19th century

  • Jails housed children, enslaved individuals, and individuals with debt, mental illness, and physical illness

  • As the century progresses, children and people with mental illness were institutionalized elsewhere

  • Jails began to house both pretrial accused and post-trial convicted individuals

  • Some also held individuals convicted of felonies

Types of Local Correctional Facilities

  • Jails are typically run by the county sheriff and authorized to hold individuals pending trial and individuals convicted of misdemeanors for periods longer than 48 hours

  • Lockups are temporary holding facilities typically located in municipal police stations to hold people for short periods

  • Workhouses or houses of correction operated by cities or countries that hold convicted inmates sentenced to short terms

Characteristics of Jails

  • Most are small

  • They are diverse regarding the size of their operation, problems they face, and programming

  • Vary by state and jurisdiction

  • Challenges vary from one jail to another

  • Some may face overcrowding, staff corruption, sexual victimization of inmates, and inadequate staffing

Jail Functions

  • Hold individuals pretrial who cannot afford or were denied bail

  • Hold convicted individuals for sentences of less than a year

  • Hold convicted individuals awaiting sentencing

  • Hold individuals serving misdemeanor sentences

  • Hold mandatory arrestees for drunken driving—DWI. DUI, or OMVI

  • Hold individuals on retainer warrants or accused of parole/probation violations

  • Temporary holding for juvenile offenders

  • House witnesses in protective custody or being held prior to trial

Initial Booking and Classification

  • Jails have a central area for booking

  • Booking is the process of admitting an individual who has been arrested or sentenced to jail, including:

    • Identification

    • Fingerprinting

    • Property inventory and storage

    • May be released on bond or ROR, otherwise classified and sent to housing unit

Jail Populations

Age

  • Number of juveniles held in jail has declined over 21% from 2019 to 2020

  • Due to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and the Juvenile Justice Reform Act

  • The elderly population has increased during the past decade

  • Creates healthcare challenges

Gender

  • Male incarcerated individuals outnumber females

  • Incarcerated at rate more than 7 times that of females

  • More than 69,000 women are currently incarcerated in jails

  • Black and Hispanic females are more likely to receive jail sentences than White females

  • Jail statistics are based on assigned biological sex and do not consider the rates of nonbinary or transgender individuals

Race and Ethnicity

  • Based on representation in the population, Black individuals are almost 3 times more likely than Hispanics and 5 times more likely than White individuals to be in jail

  • There are more White individuals incarcerated in jail at 47% than Blacks (37%) or Hispanic populations (15%)

  • American Indians are held in local jails at the highest rate of any racial group

Jail Populations

  • Socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals are:

    • The least likely to make bail

    • Most likely to commit petty offense

    • Most likely to have mental health issues

    • Most likely to be considered flight risks

    • Often unable to afford restitution

Jail Administration and Structure

  • Sheriffs’ departments run the jails in over 3,000 counties

  • Sheriff is an elected official and politically accountable

  • Jails are political institutions

  • Increasing number of sheriffs seeking to run jails as professionals

  • Implement minimum standards developed by the National Sheriffs’ Association

Types of Jail Supervision and Surveillance

  • First generation jails: Linear/intermittent surveillance

    • Focus on staff providing linear/intermittent surveillance of incarcerated individuals, which they do by patrolling the corridors and observing incarcerated individuals in cells

  • Second generation jails: Indirect/remote surveillance

    • Staff use remote supervision as they remain in secure control booth surrounded by inmate pods or living area

    • Staff unable t respond quickly to problems

    • Flow of info between officers and incarcerated individuals reduced

    • Staff may overlook infractions due to not believing it is worth the trouble to call for assistance

New Generation Jails: Direct Supervision

  • Facility has podular architectural design that emphasizes the interaction of incarcerated individuals and staff

  • Creates new understanding of role of officer

  • Encourages staff interaction with incarcerated individuals

  • Implements decentralized, small living units

  • Promotes the use of noninstitutional environments

  • Defines a new system and identifies management principles

Fourth Generation Jails: Total Supervision

  • Omni View Total Supervision (OVTS)—has centrally placed, high strength mirrored class control center with an panoramic view that provides 100% surveillance of the entire facility

  • Complies with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)

  • Promises to provide increased security and reduced operational costs for all classification needs

Jail Programs—Jails Criticized for a Lack of Programs

  • Programs include:

    • Work or pretrial release

    • GED and adult basic education courses

    • Drug and alcohol treatment

    • Counseling

    • Vocational programs

    • Religious services

Crucial Health Care Diseases

  • Communicable diseases

  • Chronic diseases

  • Substance abuse

  • Prenatal care

  • Smoking

  • Mental health

Jail Officers—Correctional Officers

Correctional Officers

  • More than 200,000 correctional officers working in jails

  • Previously untrained; today, most are highly trained and skilled

  • Seen as a way to get your foot in the door before working patrol for the sheriff’s office

  • Most now seen as professionals; academy-trained, better pay, and benefits

Changing Roles

  • Increased professionalism

  • More diverse staff; however, improvement is needed

  • Officers trained in conflict mediation

  • Focus on writing skills for reports

  • Must accommodate ever-changing incarcerated population

Issues of Jail Confinement

Overcrowding and Mental Illness

  • Jail overcrowding—impact on tension, violence, health

  • Mental health placements

  • The inmate with mental illness poses significant challenges for a jail

  • Lack of community mental health resources means many are forced into the criminal justice system

  • Violence includes assaults, inmate suicides, and collective violence such as riots

Suicide

  • Leading cause of jailhouse death

  • More than 300 jail incarcerated individuals take their own lives each year

  • Reasons for high suicide rate

    • Lack of access to drugs and alcohol—withdrawal and lack of self-medication

    • Isolation from the support of family and friends

  • Prevalence of suicide is 2 to 5 times greater in smaller jails than larger jails

  • Prevention programs found in almost all jails (increased monitoring of high-risk individuals and specially equipped cells)

Trends Shaping Jails

  • Direct supervision found in the new generation jail is more common now

  • Accreditation and other movements are proposing minimum standards

  • American Correctional Association (ACA) National Sheriffs’ Association

  • Regional jails and privatization are seen more often

  • Quality of life in jail has improved, including new programming